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List of highest paid baseball players
The following chart lists the Major League Baseball players who have earned the greatest total salary over their career (through the end of 2005 and not including bonuses). $153,379,882 - Barry Bonds $130,890,502 - Kevin Brown $127,687,500 - Randy Johnson $126,027,000 - Alex Rodriguez $124,845,000 - Greg Maddux $123,568,000 - Sammy Sosa $121,001,000 - Roger Clemens $120,159,654 - Ken Griffey, Jr. $119,010,002 - Gary Sheffield $110,426,002 - Mike Piazza $110,363,431 - Larry Walker $108,765,000 - Jeff Bagwell $108,032,727 - Manny Ramirez $105,569,000 - Pedro Martinez $103,392,167 - Mike Mussina $103,145,653 - Tom Glavine $101,600,001 - Bernie Williams $100,405,001 - Mo Vaughn (retired) $ 97,430,000 - Derek Jeter $ 97,376,294 - Albert Belle (retired) $ 97,095,446 - John Smoltz $ 90,299,000 - Carlos Delgado $ 89,295,996 - Rafael Palmeiro $ 87,037,500 - Juan Gonzalez $ 86,014,000 - Frank Thomas $ 81,510,000 - Ivan Rodriguez $ 80,902,168 - Shawn Green $ 80,552,134 - Chipper Jones $ 80,158,000 - Curt Schilling $ 79,295,001 - Jim Thome $ 78,860,000 - Matt Williams (retired) $ 78,467,500 - Barry Larkin (retired) $ 77,571,543 - Mike Hampton $ 76,603,815 - Roberto Alomar (retired) $ 74,688,354 - Mark McGwire (retired) $ 73,015,500 - Craig Biggio $ 69,850,001 - Cal Ripken, Jr. (no data available for 1981-1984) $ 68,243,667 - John Olerud $ 68,100,100 - Al Leiter $ 67,135,000 - Robin Ventura $ 66,947,501 - David Cone (retired) $ 66,470,000 - Raul Mondesi $ 66,251,803 - Chan Ho Park $ 65,860,818 - Fred McGriff $ 65,743,750 - Kevin Appier $ 65,504,063 - Chuck Finley (retired) $ 65,155,500 - Moises Alou $ 63,530,125 - Mariano Rivera $ 60,206,500 - Andruw Jones $ 60,151,344 - Steve Finley Annual Salary The following chart reveals the evolution of the highest paid player in Major League Baseball. A player's yearly salary is considered to be for the maximum value of the contract divided by the term of the contract in years. YEAR SALARY/YR PLAYER TEAM/ORGANIZATION 1927 $70,000 Babe Ruth New York Yankees 1930 $80,000 Babe Ruth New York Yankees 1949 $100,000 Ted Williams Boston Red Sox 1966 $130,000 Willie Mays San Francisco Giants 1972 $200,000 Hank Aaron Atlanta Braves 1975 $740,000 Catfish Hunter New York Yankees Major League Baseball's reserve clause was struck down in 1976, beginning an era of free agency and thus market-value player contracts 1979 $1,000,000 Nolan Ryan Houston Astros 1981 $2,000,000 Dave Winfield New York Yankees 1985 $2,130,300 Mike Schmidt Philadelphia Phillies 1986 $2,800,000 George Foster New York Mets 1990 $3,000,000 Rickey Henderson Oakland Athletics 1991 $4,700,000 Jose Canseco Oakland Athletics 1992 $5,800,000 Bobby Bonilla New York Mets 1993 $5,975,000* Ryne Sandberg Chicago Cubs 1995 $9,237,500 Cecil Fielder Detroit Tigers 1997 $10,000,000 Albert Belle Cleveland Indians 1998 $14,936,667 Gary Sheffield Florida Marlins 2000 $15,714,286 Kevin Brown Los Angeles Dodgers 2001 $22,000,000 Alex Rodriguez Texas Rangers 2005 $26,000,000 Alex Rodriguez New York Yankees *Ryne Sandberg's 1993 contract was originally for $7,100,000 per year, but he retired before the contract expired and forfeited the back-loaded end of the contract. External links *"The Century in Dollars and Cents", Seattle Post-Intelligencer Category:Labor relations